ROLE SUMMARY
The Oracle DB Patching Tower Lead (Onshore) is the primary Oracle interface to client DBA L2/L3 and application owners during Canada hours. This role owns quarterly PSU/RU and CPU patch cycles across 20,700+ Oracle DB instances — including RAC Grid Infrastructure rolling patches, ASM considerations, Data Guard switchovers, and OPatch/opatchauto execution. Deep Oracle DBA patching expertise is mandatory, along with strong change governance and cross-team coordination.

ROLE IN THE OPERATING MODEL

Tower/pod lead and SME for Oracle patching — primary Oracle interface to client DBA L2/L3 and application owners during Canada hours and weekend windows

Coordinates application-owner sign-off post-patching; owns Oracle tower compliance reporting to the Patch Service Lead

Operates as Oracle execution layer under client direction; database design and engineering remain client DBA L2/L3 owned

Directs offshore Oracle SMEs during onshore hours; manages escalation within agreed SLTs

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Plan and execute Oracle quarterly PSU/RU and CPU security patches via OPatch/opatchauto and datapatch

Perform Grid Infrastructure/RAC rolling patching with ASM and Data Guard considerations to minimise disruption

Take pre-patch RMAN backups, run health checks, validate post-patch, and roll back PSU/RU on failure

Track DB CVEs, version currency, and EOL/EOS (e.g., 12c → 19c migration need); maintain compliance and update CMDB/KEDB

Coordinate with client DBA L2/L3 and application owners for sign-off; perform RCA for patch failures

Author RFC/CAB submissions for Oracle patch waves; align with client quarterly release calendar

Own Oracle tower compliance reporting; present KPIs to the Patch Service Lead for governance reviews





TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE SCOPE

Execute Oracle quarterly PSU/RU and CPU patches via OPatch/opatchauto and datapatch across standalone, RAC, and Data Guard environments

Perform GI/RAC rolling patching — node-by-node execution, cluster resource validation, ASM disk group health checks

Take pre-patch RMAN backups; run INVALID object recompilation and listener restart post-patch

Execute OPatch conflict analysis and prerequisite checks; manage opatch prereq failure workarounds

Roll back PSU/RU on failure; document RCA and update KEDB

Track Oracle CPU release schedule (Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct) and plan waves 4–6 weeks in advance

Author RFC/CAB documentation; coordinate maintenance window scheduling with DBA teams

SKILLS, TOOLS & COMPETENCIES
Primary Skills

DB Platforms: Oracle 11g/12c/19c/21c · Oracle RAC · Oracle Data Guard · Oracle GI (Grid Infrastructure) · ASM

Patching Tools: OPatch · opatchauto · datapatch · OJVM patching · PSU/RU/CPU/GDR patch types · Conflict detection

Automation: Bash/Shell scripting · Ansible Oracle roles · Python DBA scripts · opatchauto orchestration

ITSM & Vuln: ServiceNow (Change/CMDB) · Tenable · Qualys · RFC/CAB · KEDB management

Observability: Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) · Splunk · Dynatrace · Moogsoft · AWR/ASH awareness

Secondary Skills





SQL/PL-SQL fundamentals and shell scripting for Oracle automation

Oracle Exadata / Engineered Systems awareness

Multitenant architecture (CDB/PDB) patching awareness

Cloud DB (OCI/Azure) fundamentals

CERTIFICATIONS
Mandatory

ITIL 4 Foundation

Preferred (one or more)

Oracle Certified Skilled (OCP) — Oracle Database 19c (mandatory preference)

Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) acceptable at SME level; Oracle Certified Master (OCM) a strong plus

Oracle RAC / Grid Infrastructure Specialist credential

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) certification — advantageous

NICE TO HAVE

Experience patching Oracle in financial services with high-availability, zero-downtime requirements

Oracle Exadata patching experience

OEM 13c grid monitoring operational experience

WORK MODEL & COMMITMENT
Hours: Canada business hours + weekend change window coverage

Shift Model: Hybrid onshore; quarterly PSU cycles and weekend maintenance windows

On-Call: Yes — emergency Oracle CVE response and RAC failover events

Language: English (mandatory)

Compensation
We are offering between $60,000 – $85,000. Applications will be accepted until Aug 21, 2026.Cognizant will only consider applicants for this position who are legally authorized to work in Canada without requiring employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future.

Disclaimer
The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.

*Please note, this role is not able to offer visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future*

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📌 Oracle Patching SME (Ontario)
🏢 Cognizant
📍 Ontario